I met with a client recently who has made a decision to move into the next stage of her vision. She was feeling so much better now that the decision is made, it got me to thinking that I should write some more on this topic!
I’ve written about decision making before and shared some unhelpful patterns of decision-making that you might identify with and how to move beyond them. You can see that blog here.
Being decisive is a very important success strategy. And all the evidence is that successful people make decisions quickly and they seldom revisit them.
The fact of the matter is that unmade decisions simply sap our energy. And frankly, it’s exhausting. I know, I spent years thinking about starting my own business, stuck in a kind of should I stay or should I go energy in relation to my old job that was no good for anyone.
So what about you? Where are you stuck in indecision? In a relationship or friendship that isn’t working any more but you haven’t decided what to do about it? In a job that has totally lost its appeal but you’re afraid to leave? A new health routine that you just haven’t really committed to but know you want the results it promises? A debt you need to service or a savings scheme you want to start but you never get around to it?
There is really only one decision making tool that you ever need and that is to know the difference between vision-based decisions and condition-based decisions and to choose the former.
Let me explain.
Most people are making condition-based decisions, almost all the time. They look to the conditions of their lives to make decisions. Is this you?
- Looking to your bank account to decide what you can afford.
- Looking at your work diary and/or your kids’ schedule to decide what you have time for.
- Looking at the label on your clothes or the number on the weighing scales to decide how much you can love yourself.
- Looking to other people’s views and opinions to decide what choices you can make.
And before this sends you writing to me in a frenzy saying of course you have to look at all of these things first in order to make decisions, bear with me a while. Because the bottom line is that when you make decisions based on your conditions, you are essentially deciding for more of the same.
The only other way to decide is to make vision-based decisions. Ultimately, the only question you ever need to ask is ‘does this move me closer to my vision?’ If it does, you’re on the right track.
Yes, you need to have your vision well clarified first but once you have that in place, knowing what’s a good decision gets a whole lot easier.
I can’t tell you how many times it has worked for my family and I to make a decision that was vision based, in the absence of having all the requisite conditions in place first.
Family holidays in Australia and USA, home renovations, a new car… every single time we made the decision were doing it before we had the money in place or knew the itinerary or had a plan to make it happen. All of those things fell into place AFTER the decision was made that we were doing it anyway.
As Bob Proctor puts it “More dreams are shattered and goals lost because of circumstance than any other single factor”.
You may say that you can’t have the new home or the holiday or change jobs because you can’t afford it when in truth, you don’t need the money anyway until you have made a decision to do any of those things.
And what you can see from observation is that it is when a decision is made that a way is found. It is only then that you will figure out a way to get the money or the support or the information that you need. Every time.
Making a vision-based decision doesn’t mean it is plain sailing all the way. You will definitely still feel fear – it’s an inevitable part of change and decisions for new results mean changes!
And you may still have to navigate some conditions. But the difference is that you know you want the result, you’ve decided for it, and you’re willing to push through the discomfort to get it.
All of this is so much easier with a structure of support in place and guidance for navigating the journey.
If you’d love to experience that, I have just the thing for you! The Vision Workshop is happening live in Cork on 14 and 15 October. It is a two-day, in-person, deep dive on how to:
- Create, clarify and calibrate your Vision
- Determine if your vision is right for you
- Decide for your vision
- Manage the fear that will rise up
- Identify what steps to take to make your vision your reality
Successful people make decisions quickly. Book the Vision Workshop today, and have the benefit of Early Bird Pricing! Let this be your first step in deciding for the life you’d love. Book here now.